Olympic village primed for private rented initiative boost

Last week I revealed in Estates Gazette that one of the largest residential managers in the US is preparing to make its first major foray into the UK.

Seattle-based Pinnacle is in talks to partner insurance giant Aviva and agent CB Richard Ellis in their proposed £1bn private-rented residential fund.

The group is one of a number of North American firms that are targeting the UK on the back of the Homes and Communities Agency initiative to encourage institutional investment in private-rented flats and houses. I have it on good authority that one of the sites favoured for when the HCA initiative does get underway is the private element of the Olympic Village.

That of course makes great sense: the 1,439 private houses being delivered offer the scale that is required for institutions to be interested; the 1,000 three to four-bed family houses are just the type of buildings Pinnacle specialises in managing; and Nigel Hugill, a key figure in driving through the HCA initiative, has long seen the Village as the perfect vehicle for a pioneering private rented fund.

Interestingly, however, my sources inform me that Lend Lease, which was one of 64 groups to express interest in being involved in the first HCA-backed investor partnerships, has been told it will be not be HCA's soon to be announced shortlist. That of course does not rule out the Olympic site from being one of the first sites bought and managed by a private rented fund given that Lend Lease if working on a fee basis these days.